Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Memphis
Walk-off Home Run Pushes Memphis Past Baseball, 7-6
3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2009
MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Marshall tied the game in the top of the ninth with an RBI groundout by senior left fielder Brandon Casamassima, but Memphis received a walk-off homer to left field by Chad Zurcher in the bottom of the ninth to pace the Tigers to a thrilling 7-6 victory over the Thundering Herd in Saturday afternoon's Conference USA baseball game at USA Stadium.
With the loss, Marshall falls to 9-10 on the season, 1-1 in league action, while Memphis improves to 9-11 overall, 1-1 in the conference.
Ahead 6-5, Memphis closer Matt Yokley entered to start the Marshall ninth and gave up a single to senior centerfielder Nate Lape, and a double to centerfield by sophomore first baseman Victor Gomez to give the Herd a pair of runners in scoring position. Yokley fired a strikeout before an RBI groundout by Casamassima knotted the game at 6-6 with two outs. From there, a strikeout ended the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Zurcher delivered a walk-off home run to left field to end the game, giving Memphis a 7-6 win.
Saturday's walk-off marked the first time the Herd has lost in that fashion since Wake Forest used a 10th inning walk-off infield error to win back on Feb. 22, 2009.
Yokley earned the victory for the Tigers and moves to 2-0 on the season. Junior righty Tyler Gatrell suffered the loss for Marshall and is now 0-1 on the season.
Marshall struck first in the top of the third stanza when senior second baseman Adam Yeager reached on a dropped fly ball in the outfield, allowing the speedster to race to second. From there, a pair of groundouts allowed him to come home with the contest's first run.
The Herd went to work again in the top of the fourth when Casamassima punched a one-out single up the middle and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. An infield single by junior third baseman Josh Valle placed runners on the corners before Casamassima was thrown out at home on a fielder's choice. From there, a fly out to right ended the inning, keeping the score 1-0.
Memphis made some noise in the bottom of the fourth inning when Tyler Huelsing led off with a single into left field. He then stole second and moved to third on an infield throwing error. A walk to Shawn Ablett gave the Tigers runners on the corners before Kiel fanned a pair of hitters to give the Herd two outs in the frame. Ablett then stole second to give Memphis both runners in scoring position. From there, a single to left by Chris Newsom allowed both runs to cross the plate, giving the Tigers a 2-1 edge, before a fly out to right field ended the inning.
Yeager led off the Marshall fifth with a walk and moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Yeager then stole third before scoring the game tying run on an RBI rip up the middle by sophomore right fielder Ben Jurevicius. The stolen base was Yeager's 13th of the season and 60th of his career at Marshall and ties him with Chris Monaco for the program's career-record in stolen bases. Jurevicius then moved to second on a passed ball and went to third on a groundout but could not come full circle with the go-ahead run.
The Tigers regained the advantage in the bottom of the fifth when Heith Hatfield drilled an infield single to lead off the frame. He then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before Zurcher drew a one-out free pass. From there, a double into right field by Huelsing brought home Hatfield and Zurcher, giving Memphis a 4-2 lead. Huelsing stole third and then came home on an RBI single up the middle by Ablett, pushing the score to 5-2 with just one down. A walk and a wild pitch placed runners on the corners, chasing Kiel from the game in favor of sophomore righty Arik Sikula. Sikula struck out the next two batters to avoid further damage.
Marshall responded in the top of the sixth by loading the bases with no outs, but Memphis relief pitcher Duke Williams, who entered to begin the frame in place of starter Ryan Fraser, used a 5-2-3 double play and a strikeout to keep the Herd from cutting into its three-run deficit.
The Herd muscled its way back into the game as Jurevicius and Lape laced back-to-back singles through the left side to lead off the seventh frame, before a bases clearing double to right centerfield by Gomez made the score 5-4 in favor of the Tigers with no outs in the inning. A groundout moved Gomez to third and an RBI groundout by Casamassima brought him home with the game-tying run which sent Williams from the game in favor of Marcus Barnes. Barnes allowed a hit but fired a strikeout to get out of the inning with score evened at 5-5.
The Tigers answered right back in the back-and-forth affair as Huelsing singled through the right side to start the Memphis seventh before Ablett cleared the bases with a triple off the wall in centerfield, giving Memphis a 6-5 lead with no outs. An intentional walk gave Memphis runners on the corners before a fly out to center and an unassisted double play by Gomez ended the Tigers threat.
Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Gatrell entered in relief and retired the side in order, sending the game to the ninth inning.
Valle led the offensive effort for Marshall, smacking three hits and earning a walk, while Jurevicius, Lape and Gomez each chimed in with two hits.
Gomez and Casamassima each added two RBIs in the losing effort.
Marshall and Memphis will play the series finale, Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Sophomore right hander Shane Farrell will take to the mound for the Herd.
